Find your subject by answering some of these questions: What catches your eye? What excites you? What’s your focus? What’s the story?
This is not usually a problem if we’re regular on-the-spot sketchers. The real problem is likely to be that we feel overwhelmed with choices when traveling. There’s so much, and it’s all interesting and challenging!
Don’t spend too long finding “the perfect subject.” You may run out of time, particularly if you are traveling with others who prefer shopping, eating, cycling, fishing, climbing or museum-hopping. You don’t have to draw the first thing you see, but do be aware that time may be short. Make the most of it.
You’ll learn to focus quickly after a while on the road. You’ll be able to zero-in on what captured your attention in the first place. If that’s all you may have time for, start there! What moved you initially is likely to have the most impact and the best visual story to tell. Sketch that one lovely detail—a door or window, a fountain or an interesting form of ethnic or occupational dress. The possibilities are endless!
You can tell right away that the men in this quick sketch are trout fishermen. The vests and fishing nets tell the story at a glance.
If you have time, add more detail and more background. Try to spread out from that one strong visual, but if all you get is that one detail, that’s fine, too.
If you prefer, make a montage of all the details you observe. Nina Johnansson did just that on this pleasing spread from a recent trip to Brazil.
There’s no need to add color. If you want to spend the available time capturing a more complex scene, as Don Low did in this burger joint in Singapore, feel free! Don often uses a bent-nib calligraphy pen for his on-the-spot sketches, then adds grayscale volume as he did here.
I’d passed this little burger place a dozen times over the years and had never taken the time to stop and sketch it. Last time we were in California, I knew I’d better get at it! From my vantage point across the parking lot, I did a quick sketch in ink, then splashed in watercolor. (The car had moved by the time I got to that stage, so I just suggested it.)
Nik Ira captures life with a capital L with a soft graphite pencil on toned paper. You can feel the relationship between these two people as if you knew them personally.